Date Published: 04/03/11

Women Affairs Minister, Josephine Anenih, pockets PDP Anambra Women N150m...Also corners Multi Million Dollar Women Grant from UNDP...May be sacked
…Defiant, says I've been spending my money on women

Josephine Anenih

Women Affairs Minister, Josephine Anenih, is currently enmeshed in a huge scandal that may cost her the rest of her tattered reputation, and possibly her job.

Anenih, who is wife to Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), top gun, Tony Anenih, whose tenure as Works minister left sour taste in the mouth, is getting bricks thrown at her from her constituency, the PDP women wing.

Anenih , the former PDP women leader, is alleged to have last week pocketed over N150 million meant for her kinswomen in Anambra. The cash was part of huge pot of cash set aside by the PDP to assist female members running for offices at various levels.

She also allegedly cornered hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United Nation Development Fund (UNDP), meant to empower the women.

The development has also not got down well with Mrs Patience Jonathan, who has described the act as outrageous and anti-party.

Pointblanknews.com learnt that the cash were handed over to state Governors or the state party chairmen, but since Anambra has no PDP Governor, they decided to give the cash to the women Affairs minister, who is from Anambra.

According to top party sources, the party chairman, Emma Nweze was not available at the time the cash was given out by a member of the Jonathan/ Sambo Organization , Stella Oduah Ogiemwonyin, so being a party big wig from the state, Anenih took the cash on the Anambra women politicians behalf.

But, unknown to Oduah-Ogiemwonyin and Director-General of the organization, Dalhatu Tafida, Anenih had other plans. She dumped the cash in her private account .

Pointblanknews.com gathered that as the women ran around for cash, they learnt Nweze got the ‘support’ cash from Abuja. They stormed his office but he told them, he had no money. Nweze made some enquiries and found out that Anenih had their share.

Our source disclosed that Anenih, devised a means to hoodwink the women. She directed those eligible, to fill out some forms online. But as at Sunday night Anenih had not paid out a dime.

It was further learnt that when some top members of the women wing called up Anenih to find out what happened, she became furious and defiant, arguing that since she had spent so much of her private cash on women in six months, she would not give out a dime.

One of the women who got the running around from Anenih said “ she took over N150 million of party cash meant for us, and also took another huge sum running into millions, from UNDP. She asked us to go online, fill out a fake form, up till few hours to the postponed election, nothing, till now, she still has the cash”

Continued the source “ Josephine was not supposed to get the Anambra share in the first place. Nweze was the rightful person since we don’t have a PDP Governor in Anambra. So when they didn’t see the chairman, Josephine elected to take it, so they gave it to her. Don’t forget she is a minister from the state, and was woman leader. We were shocked. Now she is saying, she has spent her personal money in the past. We are storming Abuja tomorrow, she has to be sacked and the cash retrieved”